Plum MD
by ewal32
Summary: Stephanie Plum is back in action, using her skills and stubbornness to save her man from uncertain death. When Ranger comes down with a mysterious illness, it's up to Steph to crack the case. She has one shot to get it right, but will she succeed before it's too late?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The week started out like any other week. Getting shot at, nearly stabbed, falling into a garbage dumpster, and rescuing Lula from her latest relationship drama was pretty much status quo for me – and it was only Tuesday!

Little did I know that things were going to get a lot more intense, and later I would find myself wishing that a stabbing by an FTA was the only thing I had to worry about. Perspective is always most beneficial after wading through the garbage, don't you think?

All I can say is that Ranger has saved my butt more times than I can count. So I guess it's fitting that the tables were bound to turn sooner or later. Don't get me wrong; I would walk across fire for that man. It's just that he's usually the one who knows what to do, always has a plan, and can crack any case.

Ranger relying on me to save his life is the stuff only found in nightmares. And unfortunately we were both about to be living in such a nightmare. But before I get into all of that, I need to start at the beginning. Or as close to the beginning as I can remember. This story doesn't start with once upon a time, but will it end with happily ever after? There's only one way to find out.


	2. Chapter 1

"What's that you say? I won a trip to a resort?" The very hard-of-hearing elderly gentleman standing in front of me had failed to appear for court, and I was trying to convince him to come downtown with me.

"No," I yelled louder. "I need you to come with me for court!" Mr. Mason had been arrested for destruction of private property. Apparently, he got into some sort of altercation with the President of his Home Owners Association and proceeded to rip up all of the flowers and shrubs in the woman's front yard.

"That old bag of bones deserved to have her yard destroyed," Mr. Mason said. "She had the nerve to send me a letter about my yard art." To be fair, Mr. Mason had the tackiest yard in the neighborhood. He had an impressive selection of plastic animals scattered throughout the yard, along with several fountains, gnomes, and cutesy flags. "The kids love it," he said.

"It's all very nice," I said, "but you still have to come with me to reschedule your court date."

"Huh?" Mr. Mason said. I mimed him coming with me to the car. "Ok," he said. "Let me just put in my hearing aides." I thunked my hand against my forehead.

I called Connie on the way in and let her know that Mr. Mason was on his way and that he'd need to be re-bonded. She arranged to have Vinnie meet us there so Mr. Mason wouldn't have to spend the night in jail.

I was returning to my car, and I saw Ranger leaning against my door, arms crossed. Ranger and I have had an interesting relationship over the years. We've been everything from friends to sporadic lovers to, well; I'm not sure what to call our current status. We aren't exactly boyfriend/girlfriend, but I spend most nights at his place and he even gave me some space in his closet to hang my clothes.

Is that boyfriend status? I try not to dwell on titles too much. Sets too many expectations. That's the main reason why Joe and I are finito – too many expectations and not enough expectations. Ranger and I decided a while back to just be with each other and see what happens. No pressure. I'm happy, and Ranger is happy. At least, I think he's happy. Hard to tell most days since he doesn't exactly give smiles away for free.

"Hey!" I said to Ranger.

"Babe." Ranger said. Standard Ranger greeting that could mean anything from hello to what the heck have you gotten yourself into this time? Today it meant hello.

"What's up?" I asked him. He pulled me to him and gave me a kiss that made my toes curl. "Came by for a nooner?" I asked, half serious.

"No, but I'll take a rain check on that" Ranger said. "I came by to see if you've been handed the Fudge case."

Fred "the Fudge" Postuli had been charged with embezzlement and missed his court date. He was working as the CFO for his father in-law's company and alleges that he was set up. Word on the street was this was retribution for extra curricular activities that the Fudge had with several ladies of the night.

"I did get the file," I told Ranger. "Haven't had much luck yet. He's either in hiding or he's dead."

"Don't get too close on that one," Ranger said. "There are a lot of family members that want the Fudge dead, and I don't want you picking up any unwanted company. I'm busy the rest of the afternoon, but I can help you tomorrow."

"Not necessary," I said. "I'll get Lula to be my backup." Ranger looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but settled for a subtle grimace instead.

"Be careful," Ranger said, pushing himself off my car.

"You too," I said, as Ranger angled into his Porsche and drove away.


	3. Chapter 2

I rolled into the Bonds office to see if I could meet up with Lula. As much as I wanted to listen to Ranger's warning about not getting too near the Fudge, my nearly empty bank account was more important. Now I know Ranger would gladly give me everything I need, but I am a proud, independent woman. Plus, life would be boring if I wasn't chasing after lunatics all day, right?

"Hey Lula," I said, as I walked in the door. "You up for doing a little recon work on the Fudge?"

"As long as I get to shoot him if I see him," Lula said. "Two timing, cheating, lying, slug."

Lula has a thing about cheating men. Probably because she used to be a ho and most of her clients were cheating men.

"Fine with me," I said. "Let's roll."

"Are you sure you don't want to team up with Ranger on this one?" Connie asked. "The Fudge has a lot of enemies out there."

"That's what Ranger said," I told Connie. "We'll be fine, we're just going to do a little snooping, see what we can find out."

"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you," Connie said.

The file I had on the Fudge was pretty light. We had his home and business addresses, along with the address of a vacation home in Point Pleasant. "Let's go by his home address first," I said.

I parked a few houses away from the address in the file. I wanted to sit and wait for a bit to see if there was any activity. According to the file, the Fudge had a wife and two kids, although after the allegations, I doubted he would be married for much longer.

The house was located in a middle class neighborhood on a quiet street. Neat, manicured lawns, kids playing on their bikes, nothing that screamed criminal. But of course, most criminals blend in like this. We hunkered down to wait.

A short while later, a car pulled into the driveway and a woman in her mid-thirties got out of the car. Two kids hopped out behind her. Bingo - the Fudge's family. I waited a few minutes and then told Lula I was going to have a chat with the wife.

"Ok," Lula said. "I'll stay here and see if any other interested parties drive by."

I made my way to the front door and rang the bell. A girl no older than 10 answered the door.

"Hi," I said, "is your mom home?"

"Mom!" the girl yelled, as who I presumed to the Fudge's wife came to the door.

"Mrs Postuli?" I asked.

"Not for long," she answered with a look of disgust. "Sarah, go help your brother with his homework", she said to her daughter. "What can I help you with?"

I handed her my card and explained who I was and asked her if she'd seen her husband. "He's violated his bond agreement and he needs to turn himself in and get rescheduled for a new court date."

"Haven't seen him, don't care if he rots in jail. That man has caused me nothing but problems. My father was right, I should have never married him."

Talk about awkward. "I understand that Mrs Postuli," I said, "but you husband put up the house as collateral for his bond. If he doesn't turn himself in, the bond office will be forced to collect on the house."

Mrs Postuli slowly shook her head. "I can't believe he did that," she said. "I'd kill him myself if he were standing in front of me."

"Do you have any idea where I could find the fudge, sorry, I mean Fred?"

"Oh I have worse nicknames for him, and they start with FU too!" Mrs. Postuli said.

I smiled at her. "Anybody that he may have hung out with that could be hiding him?" I asked. "Or any secret apartments, anything like that?"

She stared at me for a minute and abruptly went into the house. She returned a minute later with a name and an address. "Here," she said. "This is the name and address of Fred's childhood friend. If anyone knows where he might be, it's Henry."

I thanked her and quickly walked back to the car. Lula was belting out some show tune, and I flipped the radio off before dogs started circling the car. I recalled my conversation with the Fudge's wife, leaving out the killing part, and showed her the paper with the name and address.

"Let's hit it," Lula said, buckling her seatbelt.

"We need to strategize on this," I said. "If Henry is hiding the Fudge, we need to be smart and not go busting in there with guns a blazing." I made a point to raise my eyebrows when I said this. "And when I say we, I really mean you," I said.

"You act like I have no class. Like I'd just go in there firing. Like I'd shoot first, ask questions later." I didn't really know what to say to that. Because that's exactly what I thought she'd do.

"Let's regroup at the bonds office and decide our next move," I said. Plus I wanted to talk to Ranger to get his thoughts on the best way to handle this.

"Fine," Lula said, with a little pout. "I need a donut anyway. You kept me waiting in the car so long that my blood sugar is low."

"Ok," I said. And I put the car in gear and headed back towards the office. I thought there was a good chance the Fudge was hiding out. And I was determined to nab him.


	4. Chapter 3

I dropped Lula off at the donut shop and called Ranger on my cell. "Babe," Ranger answered in a hushed tone.

"You busy?" I asked him.

"Visiting a client. What's up?"

"What time will you be home tonight? I wanted to get your thoughts on this Fudge case."

I could hear Ranger talking to someone in the background. "I'm finishing up here, and I've got a couple more meetings this afternoon, but I should be done by six. Dinner date?" he asked.

"Sure," I said. "I'll be ready at six. Pick me up at my place. I've got a few things to do this afternoon myself. Over and out."

"Later," Ranger said.

I planned to do some research on the Fudge's friend Henry. No telling if it would lead anywhere, but always trust a wife's intuition. That's what I've learned anyway.

My search turned up some basics: single, no kids, graduated with a degree in chemistry, and runs some kind of consulting business. The website used lots of sciencey words that were so far over my head it was ridiculous. Guess we all can't be geniuses, right?

Has lived in the Burg all his life, and he may or may not have loose connections to the mob. Stumbled across some blog post about that tidbit so I wasn't putting much stock in that one.

Nothing that really screamed I do illegal shit for my friends like hide them from the law, but I wasn't exactly expecting a Facebook post about it.

I finished my research and stepped into the bathroom for a quick shower. If Ranger was taking me out I was going to look good. And looking good includes my best pair of undies!

Ranger rolled up at six, and I ran out to meet him. "Hi," I said.

"Babe," Ranger said. "You look great."

"Thanks. And you smell amazing as always," I said as I nuzzled my cheek into his neck, brushing my lips against his ear.

"Mmm. You do that again and we won't be eating. At least, not in the conventional sense," Ranger said. Oh boy.

We pulled up to a little Italian place just outside Trenton. Dingy and run down on the outside, but they have amazing food. We procured a booth in the corner, and Ranger ordered us some wine.

"So," he said after our food arrived, "what's going on with the Fudge case?" I looked over at Ranger's plate and had to suppress an eye roll. No joy of eating boring-ass food for him, and a mound of spaghetti and meatballs for me. I may keel over at 40, but at least I'm going down happy.

"I visited the wife today. She pretty much said she'd gut him if she sees him so I hardly doubt he's hanging around the house. Plus her family would kill him in an instant and bury the body." I shoveled a forkful of spaghetti into my face and continued.

"She gave me the name and address of a friend of his, said if anyone knows his whereabouts, it's this guy. I don't want to scare him off because I get the feeling that if he catches any scent of someone on his trail, he'd be dust in the wind."

"Why do you think he's still around here?" Ranger asked. "You don't think he's on a beach in some remote third world country by now?"

"No I don't. For one, all of his accounts are frozen. Secondly, his wife's whole family is after him and I bet you anything they've got influence where it counts. They'd know if he showed up at the airport."

"All good points," Ranger said. He was looking at me with mild amusement.

"What?" I said.

"Want to hear what I think?" Ranger said.

"Always, I said." He smiled at this.

"I think he's staying local because he's going to try and clear his name. If I believe the rumors, and I'm not saying I do, but if I believe them, then he was framed for some pretty heavy stuff. He's looking at twenty years plus in jail, and if he can't get out of town, the only thing to do is clear his name. Or let his in-laws shoot him."

"So how should I play this?" I asked.

"Wait." Ranger said. I almost fell out of the booth.

"Wait?!" I said. "Do you know me at all? They were all out of patience when I was born."

"He'll show." Ranger said. "Just watch and wait."

"What about his friend," I asked him. "Shouldn't I at least pay him a visit?"

"Do it and the Fudge will be gone. No, don't visit just yet. Give it a couple of days. He'll show."

"How do you know?" I asked him.

"I just know," Ranger said. "Now, if you are finished with your heart attack on a plate, I'm ready for dessert."

"You don't eat dessert," I said. He was looking at me with an intensity that filled me with desire and made me forget all about the Fudge. Ok if I was being totally honest, I'd kill for an actual piece of fudge right now, but Ranger is a just as good.

"Oh," I said. "That dessert. Ready when you are." When Ranger looks at you like that, you don't wait around.

Ranger paid the bill, and we headed for home. My hand on his leg was all the motivation Ranger needed to hit the gas and gun it for home.

We pulled into the garage of RangeMan and fob'd our way to the apartment. Once inside, Ranger led me to the bedroom, depositing pieces of our clothing along the way.

He gently pushed me down onto the bed and finished undressing me. I was left wearing my sexy red pushup bra and panties. Ranger half growled, half moaned as he kissed me and put his hands to my breasts.

I kissed him with urgency and tried to unbutton his pants. He gently grabbed my wrists and held them over my head, as he said, "Not yet. My turn will come."


	5. Chapter 4

The next morning came way too quickly. I could have used a few more hours snuggled up next to Ranger before his alarm went off at five a.m. "It's Saturday," I whined.

I heard him start the shower, but there was no way I was getting up that early on a Saturday. I promptly went back to snoring and drooling and vaguely remember Ranger kissing my cheek to tell me he was leaving.

I made myself get out of bed around eight and zombie-walked to the shower. A night with Ranger is sometimes like running a marathon! Or what I would imagine running a marathon would be like.

The fun meter for running ranks right up there with getting a root canal. I tell everyone this: if you see me running, you better run too. Because someone is most certainly chasing me!

After I had my shower and drowned myself in Ranger's voluptuous shower gel, I grabbed a bagel from the kitchen and poured myself a coffee. The big dilemma of the day – should I listen to Ranger's advice on the Fudge or ignore his advice and do my own thing?

The Good Stephanie wanted to listen and patiently wait. Broke Stephanie said let's get this show on the road and go find him.

As Broke Stephanie grabbed her bag and left the apartment, I was deciding on the best course of action to check out this Henry character. Option number one was to be direct, just march up to the door and ask if he's seen the Fudge. Gauge his reaction and see if he hurries off after I leave. Option number two was to grab Lula and fib our way into Henry's house.

Number two it is, I thought, as I grabbed the keys to Ranger's Porsche and headed off to the bond office to pick up Lula.

Lula was lounging on the couch reading a magazine when I walked through the door. "About time!" she said. "I was wondering whether or not you were going to show up."

"Late night," I said. Connie and Lula eyed each other.

"So the plan for today," I said. "We are going to check out Henry and try and look around to see if he's hiding the Fudge, but I want to go incognito so we need a good cover story. Ideas?"

"Girl Scouts." Lula said.

"Too old." I said.

"Bible salesmen." Lula said.

"Too unbelievable," I said. "Plus, look how you're dressed. You really think a bible salesman would wear a gold glitter dress?"

"If they wanted to sell bibles they would," Lula said. I was starting to get an eye twitch.

"Connie, anything?" I asked.

"How about house cleaners?" Connie said. "You could say you are starting a business and giving away a free cleaning to new customers."

"That could work," I said. "We'd need to get some cleaning supplies. Good idea Connie. Want to be our third business partner?"

"Nope and nope," Connie said.

Lula and I stocked up on cleaning supplies and loaded everything into the Porsche and motored off to Henry's address.

"Ok," I said, "let me do the talking. I don't want him to know that we are looking for the Fudge. I just want to get inside and have a look around and see if it looks like he's been there."

"I can do that," Lula said. "No talking for me. I'm going to play a mute house cleaner."

"Right." I'll believe that one when I see it.

We pulled up to a small bungalow located in a neighborhood not too far away from the Fudge's house. We gathered our cleaning supplies and rang the bell.

A tall, freckled man in thick glasses answered the door. I knew from my research that this was Henry. "Hi," I said, giving him my brightest smile.

"Can I help you?" Henry said in a drab voice.

"My business partner and I have started a new cleaning service," I said, "and we are giving away free cleanings. We'd love to come in and show you what we have to offer."

Henry stared at us unblinking. "Sooo if you just step aside, we'll get started," I said, as I took a step forward.

"No." Henry said.

"No? But it's free. We won't be long and we are really good."

"Don't think so," Henry said. "I'm working on something really important right now, and I can't be bothered."

"Well it sounds like you're too busy to clean so let us in and we guarantee you'll like the results." I was starting to sweat. I mean, who wouldn't want their house cleaned for free? Unless they had something or someone to hide.

Henry narrowed his eyes. "What's the name of your company?"

"Uhhh," I said.

"Clean Cheeks!" Lula blurted out. I looked over at her. Clean Cheeks?

"Where's your business card?" Henry asked.

"Like I said, we are just starting our business so we don't have cards yet."

Henry looked over my shoulder. "So how can two cleaning ladies who are just starting a business afford a car like that?"

Crap. "Well, you know, good deal on a lease," I said.

Lula chimed in and said "You don't know nothing about us. That car happens to be her boyfriend Ranger's car!"

Henry's eyes widened. "Ranger? Like, the bounty hunter Ranger?"

"Oops," Lula said.

Henry wheeled around and slammed and locked the door.

"Great going, Miss mute cleaning lady," I said.

"I'm sorry," Lula said. "But he was being real judgmental and I didn't like his attitude."

"Well we probably ruined any chance of catching the Fudge now. Did you see his face? He knew exactly who we were after."

"Don't worry, we'll think of something else," Lula said.

I dropped Lula off at the bond office and headed back to Henry's neighborhood. I wanted to park the car and do some watching and waiting. I dialed Ranger's number.

"Babe," Ranger said.

"Hey sexy pants," I said. "Just checking in. How's it going?"

"Busy," Ranger said. "Just got a last minute meeting request from a client so I'm headed out." Ranger paused. "Where are you?"

"Oh just out fighting crime," I said.

"You're staking out the Fudge aren't you?" Ranger asked.

"Who me?" I said. "I'm just following your suggestion of watching and waiting."

"Babe," Ranger said. "I'll see you tonight." And he disconnected.

After two hours of mindless watching, I decided to call it a day and headed off to Ranger's apartment. Time to step it up on operation fill Steph's bank account.


	6. Chapter 5

Ranger walked in a little after six. I met him at the door, and he wrapped his arms around me, resting his forehead on the top of my head.

"How was the rest of your day?" Ranger asked.

"Same ol' same ol," I said. "Nothing too exciting. How was your day?" I asked him.

Ranger released me and let out a long sigh. "Long," he said, rubbing his forehead.

"You ok?" I asked. "You look tired."

"Mmm. Just a little headache," Ranger said, rubbing his forehead again and closing his eyes.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"Yes. I was in back-to-back meetings and didn't eat lunch."

"That's probably why your head hurts," I said. "Ella brought dinner, let's go eat."

Ranger followed me to the kitchen, and we plated up seared scallops with rice and vegetables. Ella sometimes surprises me with dessert. Tonight was not one of those nights so I just ate my dinner and tried not be too disappointed.

We finished dinner and Ranger was still mindlessly rubbing his head. "Come on," I said, "you look like you could use a little relaxation time."

Ranger followed me to the couch, sat down, and was unlacing his boots when his phone rang. He checked the readout and answered with a "Yea." He listened for a beat and said, "I'm on my way" before disconnecting.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"Problem with one of our accounts," Ranger said, standing.

"Can't you send Tank or Hal?"

"No. I have to go," Ranger said. He walked into the bedroom and grabbed his utility belt and flak vest. He picked up his gun and his keys before turning to me. "I won't be gone long," he said, as he kissed the top of my head.

"Be careful," I said. Ranger nodded, and he was gone.

It was just after nine when I heard someone cough in the hall outside the apartment door. I was getting ready to investigate when I heard the lock tumble, and Ranger walked in.

His hair was damp and his jacket and shoes were soaking wet. He shrugged out of the jacket, left the shoes in the foyer, and threw his belt on the counter.

"Man you're drenched," I said. "Everything go ok?"

"Fine. I'm going to get out of these clothes and take a shower."

Ranger headed into the bathroom as I gathered up his wet things and left them to dry in the hall. I settled myself back on the couch and was surfing the movie channels, trying to find something interesting to watch.

Ranger emerged from the bathroom dressed in sweats. He sat down next to me on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and cradling his head in his hands. I sat up and put my hand on his shoulder. "What's the matter?" I asked.

He pressed his palms into his forehead before turning to look at me. "I don't know. I just don't feel well," he said. He coughed before leaning back and resting his head on the back of the couch, eyes closed.

This was concerning for two reasons: one, I'd never known Ranger to as much as sneeze, let alone be sick, and two, he had to be feeling pretty crummy to admit it out loud to both me and himself.

I placed a hand on his forehead and cheeks. "You feel warm," I said.

"I'm always warm," Ranger said, furrowing his brow but not opening his eyes.

"Warmer than warm. You feel like you may have a fever." Ranger opened his eyes and squinted at me. "Great," he said.

Ranger coughed again and squeezed his eyes shut. "Ugh my head," he moaned, pressing a hand to his forehead.

"Still have a headache?" I asked.

"Mmm, a bad one."

"Why don't you go lay down, and I'll bring you something for your head," I said.

I led him to the bedroom, and he sat on the bed. I handed him a bottle of water and two pills, which he swallowed without question. Concern number three: Ranger doesn't put things into his body without asking questions.

I gently nudged Ranger to lie down, and I pulled the covers over him. "Mmm thanks babe," he murmured, before he coughed again and closed his eyes.

"Get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning," I said as I turned off the light and shut the door.

I spent the night on the couch, probably getting less sleep than Ranger. I was worried about him. I hoped that getting some rest would help him feel better.

I heard Ranger stirring the next morning and walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't look good. He opened his eyes and looked over at me.

"Feeling any better?" I asked him.

"No," Ranger said.

"How's your head?" I asked him.

"Same. Still a raging headache," he said, massaging his temples.

Ranger turned and looked at the clock on the bedside table. "I'm late for work," he said, half attempting to sit up.

"You can't be serious," I said, almost laughing. "You seriously think you are going to work today?"

"I have meetings," Ranger said, leaning against the headboard.

"Well cancel them," I said. "You can barely sit up, how are you going to contribute anything to a meeting?"

"Babe," Ranger said, cutting his eyes to me.

After a stare down that I clearly won (in my dreams), I said, "Well, if you insist on trying to work, at least stay in the apartment and work in your office. No one wants you spreading your nasty germs on them anyway."

Ranger sighed loudly, which I took to be a concession. "Can I get you anything?" I asked him. "Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm not hungry. But can you get me some more meds?"

Ranger made his way into his office while I made my way into the kitchen. Work my ass, I thought. I give him an hour tops before he gives up and is back in bed.

I'm not sure how, but Ranger actually took a couple of meetings from his office. He must have been constantly muting the phone to keep from coughing in their ears. I went to check on him and found him resting his head in his hands.

"Ready to throw in the towel and call it quits?" I asked him.

"Ugh this headache," he said. "I can barely see straight."

I walked around to his desk and stood behind him. "Here," I said, as I started to massage his shoulders.

Ranger dropped his chin to his chest and moaned in appreciation.

"Do you remember the last time you were sick?" I asked him.

"No," Ranger said. "I don't get sick, and I don't remember ever feeling this terrible."

As I started to rub his neck, I noticed his skin was quite warm. Hot, actually. I felt his forehead and almost recoiled in surprise. "Ranger, you're burning up," I said.

"Mmm" he said.

"Here, drink some water," I said, handing him a bottle. "Let's get you back in bed." I led him back to the bedroom and placed a cold washcloth on his head.

"Do you have a thermometer somewhere?" I asked him.

"I don't think so, but maybe Ella does."

"Stay here," I said. "I'm going to pop downstairs to see if she's got one I can borrow."

I ran downstairs to find Ella to see if she had a thermometer I could borrow. I insisted that Ranger was just feeling a little under the weather, and I wanted to check his temp, but there was nothing to worry about. No need to get her involved if I didn't have to.

I dashed back upstairs with the thermometer and plopped down on the bed next to Ranger. "Open," I instructed.

Ranger opened his mouth and I popped the thermometer in. Poor Ranger. He looked miserable. We patiently waited for the indicator to sound and when it did, I peeked at the readout.

"Holy shit!" I said.

"Is it bad?" Ranger asked. By now, he wasn't exactly delirious, but he wasn't exactly all there either.

"Yea it's pretty bad," I said. "103." Ranger just nodded and closed his eyes.

"Look," I said, trying not to panic. "I think we need to get you checked out at the hospital. I don't think it's safe to have a fever this high, and your cough is getting worse. None of the medication seems to be helping either."

Ranger didn't respond. "Ok?" I asked. He looked up at me. "Ok," he said.

I ran into the closet and grabbed his shoes, a jacket, and a ball cap. I stuffed the cap onto his head, shoved his feet into his shoes, and jabbed his arms into the jacket.

"Babe," Ranger said. "I may feel like death, but I am still capable of dressing myself."

"No time," I said. "If I leave it up to you it'll take all day." I think Ranger narrowed his eyes at me. Hard to tell. Could've been the headache.

I grabbed Ranger's car keys and steered him towards the door. He leaned against me in the elevator. We made it to the garage, and I helped him into the passenger seat. He rested his head on the back of the seat and closed his eyes.

I drove like a lunatic once we left the garage. "Babe," Ranger murmured. "It won't do us any good if you kill us on the way to the hospital."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm just worried."

"I'll be ok," Ranger said, although he didn't sound convincing at all.

I two-wheeled it into the hospital parking lot and helped Ranger out of the car. We made our way to the ER entrance, and I settled him into a chair while I checked him in. I was asked if I thought Ranger had been exposed to any contagious diseases, and I said, "whatever gets us in faster." The nurse didn't smile. I was given paperwork to fill out, and I returned to sit next to Ranger while we waited for his name to be called.

Ranger had turned his hat around and was resting his elbows on his knees with his head in his hands again. "It won't be long," I said to him. He squinted up at me.

"You know," I said softly to him, "If I wasn't so deathly worried about you, I might think the backwards cap look was incredibly sexy." I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

"I'll remember that when I'm not seeing four of you," he said.

"Carlos Manoso?" someone called. "Come with me, hon." Ranger stood up and followed a nurse into an exam room. I stayed and finished up the paperwork and handed it to the woman at the front desk.

As I made my way to the exam room, I had a moment to absorb this. What in the world? Ranger sick? This doesn't add up. I had a bad feeling that something wasn't quite right. And it was about to get a whole lot worse.


	7. Chapter 6

_The previous day…_

Henry slammed and locked the door and stared though the peephole until the fake house cleaners stepped off his porch. He figured it was only a matter of time until someone came sniffing, but he thought it would take longer than a couple of days. And he certainly didn't expect anyone with ties to Ranger to show up!

Henry picked up his mobile phone and dialed a number. "We have a problem," Henry said. He explained the situation and listened a beat.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Henry said. "They caught me by surprise, and then I half expected to see Ranger round the corner and that would be the end of things." He listened again before speaking.

"Look, I'm in this thing just as much as you are, if not more. It's my company and probably my neck on the line if we don't deliver. And let's not forget the reason why bounty hunters were at my door in the first place!"

"Yes, I know I told you to get the money, but that was just until we secured the buyers and got thing moving. You were the one who said you could cover it no problemo and keep it hidden until we could replenish the cash."

"Speaking of buyers," the caller said, "how are we looking on the product?"

"It's almost ready," Henry said, "but it needs a human trial. I just don't know if we can risk going through with it knowing that Ranger is most certainly going to find out. If she hasn't already, the girlfriend will get him to help and it won't take long for him to put two and two together."

"What if we killed two birds with one stone?" the caller said.

"What do you mean?" Henry asked.

"You need to test the product. We need Ranger out of the way," the caller said.

"You want me to experiment on Ranger? Are you nuts?"

"Think about it," the caller said. "Gives us a chance to test it live and in person. If it works how you expect, Ranger won't be getting out of bed, much less helping his girlfriend track down a missing fugitive."

Henry was silent.

"Hellooo?" the caller said. "So that's a yes?"

"Fine," Henry said, "but I don't have to like it. I just don't know what options we have if we want to complete this deal."

"You forget who we are dealing with," the caller said. "There are no options on not doing the deal, unless you want to find yourself without a head at the bottom of a lake."

"Ok, I'll get it ready," Henry said.

"How are you going to dose him?"

"Leave that to me. I have some ideas," Henry said.

"You'll do it today then?" the caller asked.

"Today," Henry said.

"Good. Call me when it's done," the caller said and then disconnected.

Henry sighed and ran his hands through his hair. As a scientist, he was looking forward to seeing the results of years of hard work. This is the big proverbial finger to everyone who said he wouldn't amount to anything, who said he'd never own his own company, who said he'd never be able to change his underwear, much less change the world.

He didn't actually want to harm Ranger because he actually liked the guy, but he wasn't left with much of a choice. His partner was right: this was unavoidable to protect the deal they'd worked so hard to make.

Time to make one more call. Henry picked up the phone and dialed.


	8. Chapter 7

I entered the exam room as a nurse was taking Ranger's vitals. "How's his temp?" I asked her. She showed me the readout, and it was slightly worse than an hour ago.

Ranger sat silently on the table, head bowed and eyes closed. I squeezed his shoulder and sat down in a chair to wait for the doctor.

The doctor strode in a short while later and brief introductions were made. He quickly read through Ranger's chart and made a couple of notes.

"How long have you had that cough?" the doctor asked.

"Just yesterday," Ranger said while coughing.

"And the fever?"

"He felt a little warm last night," I said, "but his fever didn't spike until this afternoon."

"Any other symptoms besides the cough and fever?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Ranger said, "a horrible headache."

"Have you had the headache since yesterday as well?"

Ranger nodded and coughed.

"And has he been given any medication?"

"Yes," I said. I ran though the medication I gave Ranger over the last 24 hours. "It's odd, but nothing seems to be making a dent," I said.

"That is odd," the doctor said. "I'd expect at least a little relief."

The doctor listened to Ranger's lungs, took his pulse, and chatted with the nurse.

"Ok," the doctor said. "We are going to admit you. We need to get that fever down and that cough concerns me. We'll get you some meds to make you more comfortable, and I'd like to run a few tests to see what we're dealing with."

"Any idea of what this is?" I asked. "The flu?"

"It's not presenting as the flu, but we'll check it out. Could just be a nasty virus or it could be some type of infection." He turned back to Ranger.

"Carlos, do you remember being around anyone who was sick or do you think you've been exposed to anything? Any visits to foreign countries or anything like that?"

"No," Ranger said between coughs. He put his hand to his head and softly groaned.

"Ok, sit tight, we'll get you feeling better soon," the doctor said as he left the room.

I came around to stand in front of Ranger as he moaned and rested his forehead on my shoulder. He was shivering slightly. I put my arms around him and said, "I'm sorry you're so sick. Is there anything I can do?"

"Can you call Tank and let him know I'll be out of commission for a bit? And tell him if I see him or anyone else from RangeMan here, they are fired."

At least some things are still the same.

"Anything else?" I asked.

He peered up at me. "You should go home and get some rest. You look like you got less sleep than I did last night."

"I will," I said, "once you get settled."

Ranger nodded and squeezed his eyes shut.

The nurse came back in to draw some blood and get us transferred to a room. Once Ranger was in his room, they started him on an IV of pain and fever medication.

I was relieved to know that he'd at least be more comfortable and could hopefully get some sleep. His eyes were closed as I kissed his forehead and told him I'd be back in a bit.

I wasn't going home to rest. I was going to do some investigating. The fact that this came on so suddenly had my spidey senses tingling.

I planned on finding out where Ranger had been the last few days because if anyone meant him harm, I would find out, and they would seriously regret it!


	9. Chapter 8

As I was leaving the hospital, Connie called me on my cell.

"Any luck on tracking down the Fudge?" she asked.

"I've been a little busy," I said. I filled her in on Ranger's trip to the hospital.

"Do you think it's serious?" she asked.

"I hope it's just a nasty flu," I said. "They are running some tests and giving him some drugs so I'll let him get a little rest before I check in on him."

"Well Vinnie's freaking out about the Fudge. He said that you need to find him or else. And I'm rolling my eyes at that last part," Connie said.

"On the record, you can tell Vinnie to kiss my big fat white ass. Off the record, I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," Connie said. "Let me know if Ranger needs anything."

I disconnected with Connie and headed back to RangeMan. I wanted to talk to Tank and see if I could get a copy of Ranger's calendar. Aside from the emergency calls, Ranger is diligent when it comes to keeping a schedule. Big shocker, right?

Tank was out on a patrol when I walked into the Control Room, but I asked the guy on duty about getting access to Ranger's calendar. Everyone there knows me so all I had to do was fib and say Ranger was working on a project and needed me to look something up for him.

I was led to a computer and voila – instant access to Ranger's life. I cringed at the organization of it all. His whole day was scheduled. Workout, 5 am. Shower, 6 am. Breakfast, 7 am. Babe boob time, 8 p – wait, what? Babe boob time? Least I made it on his calendar.

The time between breakfast and that other thing was filled with meetings and client appointments. I scanned through the entries starting with three days ago and couldn't make out much from Ranger's shorthand.

I clicked on one of the appointments and saw that an address was listed. I clicked through a few more entries; some of them had addresses and some of them didn't. Ranger marked some of the entries with RC and some with NC – regular and new clients maybe? The RC items didn't have addresses, but the NC's did.

I figured the NC entries were as good a place to start as any. I really didn't even know what I was looking for, and that's even assuming there was something for me to find. I just couldn't sit still and wait around if there was any chance I could help Ranger.

I printed off the entries and rounded the corner on my way out and almost ran smack into Tank.

"Tank, you scared the crap out of me!" I said.

Tank just raised an eyebrow. "How's Ranger?" he said.

I pulled him into an office and shut the door. I briefed him on Ranger's sudden illness and my suspicion that this might be something else.

"Have you ever known Ranger to be sick?" I asked Tank.

"No. Never. We've even talked about how he must be half alien because he doesn't get sick."

I told him my plan to do some snooping and visit some of the places Ranger had visited the last few days.

"Don't go without backup," Tank said. "I'll have a car follow you. And if you tell Ranger this was my idea I'll deny it, but put on a uniform and say you are part of the customer service team that checks on clients to be sure they are satisfied."

"Great idea," I said. "And my lips are sealed." We both knew Ranger would kill us both if anything happened to me while he was out of commission.

"I'm swamped with Ranger being out, but let me know if you need anything," Tank said. "And update me on how he's doing. I'd hate to get fired trying to sneak a visit."

The first stop on my Ranger whereabouts tour was a small bank near my apartment. Before I left the office, I went upstairs to change into a RangeMan polo and black pants. I hated guns, but I grabbed one of Ranger's spares and shoved it into the back of my pants.

I walked into the bank and spoke with the manager. Yes, Ranger had met with the bank a couple of days ago to put the finishing touches on the security system that was being designed. I asked a few questions and made a few fake notes on my clipboard.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I casually asked who all attended the meeting and told the manager it was just part of my documentation. I noted the names and would check them out later.

The next two stops were pretty much the same. Nothing weird or unusual, at least, not that I could gather. I was running low on energy when the hospital called.

"Ms Plum?" the caller said.

"Speaking," I said.

"We've received the test results back on Carlos, and the doctor wanted to see if you could come in to discuss them. The sooner the better."

"Of course, I'll be right there," I said.

"Great, we'll see you soon," the nurse said.

Why is the pit in my stomach getting bigger? The nurse didn't say, "great news, we found out what's wrong!" Which meant they don't know what's wrong.

And if they don't know, who does?


	10. Chapter 9

I could hear Ranger coughing before I entered his room. He looked and sounded worse than how I left him. I'd only been gone a few hours.

"Tell me you're feeling a little better," I said as I sat down beside him.

He gave the smallest shake of his head. His breathing seemed more rapid and shallow.

I felt his forehead. He was still burning with fever.

"Haven't they been giving you medication?" I asked.

"Think so," Ranger whispered weakly.

"Then why isn't it helping?"

Ranger moaned and mumbled something in Spanish.

The doctor walked in and I shot up out of my chair. "What the hell is going on?" I said, unable to control my frustration.

"Let's step out into the hall," the doctor said.

I followed him out of Ranger's room. "Well?" I said.

"We've been treating him with as much medication as is safe to administer. He's had meds to reduce the fever, suppress the cough, and help with the headache. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working."

"I don't understand how that's possible," I said.

"We aren't sure," the doctor said. "I've not seen anything like this before. There are certain toxic substances that are impervious to particular types of treatment, but this is certainly bizarre."

"Did his test results show anything abnormal?"

"He has an elevated white blood cell count, which is to be expected if his body is fighting an illness. So that's not unusual."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Yes, one more thing. His carbon dioxide levels are significantly elevated so we are running more tests to determine the cause."

"So what now?" I asked. I felt sick with worry.

"I've reached out to some peers, but so far no one has seen anything like this before. I'm more convinced than ever that this is something he's been exposed to. I need you to talk to Carlos and see if he remembers anything. Unfortunately, we are running out of options."

Tears stung my eyes as I tried to remain composed.

"He's stable for now," the doctor said more gently. "His fever is high, but it's holding steady. He's just pretty miserable, but it's not life threatening right now. We'll keep trying treatments, but with the high fever there's only so much we can do."

I nodded and said I'd try to talk to him.

I walked back into the room and gave a small start. "Mrs. Postuli?" I said, confused. The Fudge's wife was standing over Ranger holding a mask over his nose and mouth.

"I didn't realize you were a nurse here," I said.

"Please call me Lisa. Do you know this young man?" she asked.

"Yes, he's my boyfriend," I said.

"Poor thing," Lisa said. "We've been trying to make him comfortable, but he's been pretty miserable."

The doctor put a hand on Ranger's shoulder. "You hanging in there?" he asked Ranger.

Ranger groaned. "Could I get something for my head?" he asked.

"We're working on it," the doctor said. "We'll get you some relief soon."

Ranger moaned again and closed his eyes.

"What was the treatment you were giving him?" I asked Lisa, as the doctor left the room.

"Breathing treatment," she said. "It's similar to an asthma treatment. He's been coughing so much we are just trying to do what we can."

"You find my good-for-nothing husband?" she asked me.

"No," I said. "But I've been a little distracted."

"I understand. Well give him the finger from me if you catch him," she said.

"I'll let you visit for a bit." Lisa left the room and I turned back towards Ranger.

He was moaning softly as he tried to get comfortable.

"Hey," I said, sitting down beside him.

"Babe?" he said softly.

"I'm here," I said. He muttered something else in Spanish.

"I don't speak Spanish," I said. He looked confused.

"I need you to listen to me," I said.

Ranger squeezed his eyes closed as another coughing spasm racked his body.

"Ranger," I tried again. "We think you may have been poisoned. Do you understand me?"

"Poisoned?" Ranger said.

"Yes. We need to find out what you were given. Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

"Poisoned?" Ranger said.

If I wrung his neck would I make him any worse? Patience Stephanie, I told myself.

"Let's try a different approach. Did you meet anyone new this week at work? Make any clients angry? Get into any altercations with someone at work?"

"I can't think," Ranger said. He coughed again and put a hand to his head.

I blew out a sigh. This was pointless. I was on my own with this.

"Ok," I said. "You rest. We'll figure this out, don't worry."

I feared time was not on my side with this. Aside from the fact that I couldn't stand to see Ranger in pain, I wasn't sure how much worse he was going to get.

I smoothed the hair from his forehead and Ranger closed his eyes. "Love you babe, he murmured."

"Love you too," I said. Time to prove how much.


	11. Chapter 10

Henry's phone rang and he answered it.

"How are things?" the caller asked.

"Fine," Henry said. "The drug should be nice and settled in his system by now."

"Did you see the video?" the caller asked.

"Yes," Henry said. "It's actually better than I thought."

"It wont' kill him will it?" the caller asked.

"It shouldn't. It's designed to make someone feel like death, but it's supposed to wear off after 48 hours."

"I don't know," the caller said. "He seemed pretty rough to me. I mean, I'm no doctor, but I don't see him moving anytime soon."

"I wish I could monitor him," Henry said, "so I'd know the effects it's having."

"We need to focus on getting the product ready for distribution," the caller said. "Our buyers will be here soon."

"It'll be ready," Henry said.

"Good," the caller said. "This is what we've planned for, remember that. For years, we've been waiting for our moment and this is it."

"One more thing," Henry said. "What about – "

"DON'T say the name!" the caller yelled.

"Sorry," Henry said. "I just want to know if we have anything else to worry about."

"I told you I took care of it and I took care of it. Ranger and that bounty hunter were the only potential roadblocks, and that's been taken care of as well."

"The buyers will give us more instructions tomorrow. The video will be a good show and tell and then we'll make the deal," the caller said.

"Have you figured out how you are going to deliver it?" the caller asked.

"Yes, Henry said. I'm thinking the same way I gave it to Ranger. It was rather poetic don't you think?"

"Yea," the caller said dryly, "you're a regular Edgar Allen Poe."

"Come on! Cubans!" Henry said.

"We'll be in touch," the caller said before the line went dead.


	12. Chapter 11

I left the hospital and headed back to RangeMan. Now that I knew that we weren't just dealing with a normal illness, it was time to bring in reinforcements. I still didn't know if Ranger was intentionally drugged or not, but I've been around the block enough to know that someone probably did this to him on purpose.

I called Tank to let him know I was on my way back to the office. "How's Ranger?" Tank asked.

"Not great," I said. "They think he came in contact with something that made him sick. He looks like he's on death's door, but they've assured me he's stable."

"What do we need to do?" Tank asked.

"We need a plan to track down the culprit. Me randomly going from door to door isn't cutting it. Meet me at RangeMan in five."

I pulled into the RangeMan garage and made my way to the control room. Tank was waiting for me, concern filling his face.

"Tell me what's going on," Tank said. I filled him in on Ranger's condition and told him that the doctor had not seen something like this before.

"So you think it was intentional." Tank said.

"I think Ranger isn't dumb enough to take something without knowing what it is."

"What did your search turn up?" Tank asked.

"Nothing. I only made it to a few stops, but there wasn't anything suspicious."

"Let's get men out to the rest of the locations," Tank said. "They can cover more ground quickly and will report on anything that seems out of place."

"Good idea," I said.

"Did the doctor say anything else that might be helpful?"

"He went over the test results with me, and there was something about his carbon dioxide levels being high. That's about all they saw on his test results."

"Some kind of inhalant?" Tank asked.

"That's what I was thinking," I said. "If it was an injection or a pill or something, Ranger would obviously know about it. Inhaling something without knowing it is definitely at the top of my possibilities list."

"Well that narrows it down to the whole earth," Tank said. "He could have inhaled something anywhere."

"But it would have to be contained," I said. "Otherwise, wouldn't there be other people getting sick?"

"Yea," Tank said, "I guess so. So what now?"

"Ranger schedules almost every hour of his day. Almost. I need help filling in the blanks."

"Let's do it," Tank said. "I'll get some men out to the remaining locations where we know Ranger visited."

Several hours and several coffees later, we weren't coming up with much. Between the vehicle GPS and key fob logs, my memory, and Tank's memory, we'd explained most of Ranger's whereabouts over the last couple of days.

"This is frustrating," I said, as I blew out a sigh. I just kept thinking of Ranger lying there in pain, and it made me nauseous.

"I agree," Tank said. "We aren't getting anywhere. Why don't you get some sleep and we'll pick back up in the morning."

I agreed. Not because I'd be able to get any sleep, but because I didn't know what else to do at this point.

I tossed and turned all night and was back downstairs at seven a.m. going back through the information we'd managed to gather.

Tank walked in a little before eight. "Get any sleep?" he asked.

"No," I said. "You?"

"No." Tank said. "The men reported back on their findings from yesterday."

He handed me a report. "Looks like there are a couple of places that don't have any notes. Why?" I asked.

"They were closed so they are trying again this morning."

I looked at the list. Kat's Klothes and Hank and Associates Consulting. I actually knew the owner of Kat's. I seriously doubted that she had anything to do with this.

"What's this Hank and Associates Consulting?" I asked Tank.

"Not sure," Tank said. "I think it's some type of technology consulting company. They've been a client for a few years."

"RangeMan will follow up on these last few places?" I asked.

"As soon as the doors open," Tank said.

Have I failed Ranger? I thought. I knew nothing more than I did yesterday and had no leads today. All I could do was pray that we got the break we so desperately needed.


	13. Chapter 12

Henry's phone rang and he answered it. He listened to the instructions and confirmed he'd be ready. Show time.

Henry pulled into the lot and cut the engine. His heart was thudding in his chest and he was sweating. "Keep it together, H", he said to himself.

Henry exited the car and pulled a case from his trunk. His partner was already there waiting. The buyers were there as well.

"You have the goods?" the buyer asked.

"I do." Henry said. He opened his case and turned it towards the buyer.

"Interesting," the buyer said. "Real Cubans?"

"Of course," Henry said. "I don't skimp on quality."

"So how does this work?" the buyer asked.

"All it takes is a puff or two and the drug is inhaled in the lungs. Within twenty-four hours, anyone who takes this won't be able to sit up, let alone cause any trouble."

"And you say it wears off?"

"Yes, within two to three days it should wear off. The unsuspecting victim just thinks they had a bad flu."

"And you have proof that this works?"

"Show them the video," Henry's partner said.

Henry pulled out his phone and handed it to the buyer. "This person was given the drug the day before yesterday. You can see he's in no shape to do much of anything."

"And do you have video of him returned to normal?"

"Well, no," Henry said. "He's still not through the contaminant period."

"And how can you be sure he will recover?"

"Well," Henry said.

"We can assure you the product is solid," Henry's partner said. "Henry has worked on this day and night for months and he's confident it works."

"Yes," Henry said. "I'm certainly confident."

"Well I'm not," the buyer said. "I'm not looking to add murder to my rap sheet. We can't make a deal until I know this works."

"Wait!" Henry said. "If you just – " Henry was cut off.

"I brought my own test subject," the buyer said. He signaled to a car behind him. A young man with big blue eyes and bright red hair stepped out of the car and ambled over.

"Adam, I'm going to need you to smoke this cigar," the buyer said.

"What is it?" Adam asked.

"Just a new type of cigar I'm thinking of purchasing. I need you to test it out for me."

"Sure." Adam said. Boy this guy didn't ask many questions did he?

Henry grabbed the laced cigar, cut the tip, and handed it to Adam. Adam lit the cigar and took a few puffs.

"Good," he said.

"Careful," Henry said. "It's meant to be savored, not inhaled."

Adam waved his hand dismissively and took another few puffs.

Everyone was staring at him, watching.

"What?" Adam said.

"How do you feel?" the buyer asked.

"Fine." Adam said.

"Good," the buyer said. He turned to Henry and said, "We'll be in touch in a day or so."

They got into their car and left the lot.

Henry looked over at his partner. "I guess we wait," he said.

Stone cold eyes looked back at him. "You'd better be right about this."


	14. Chapter 13

Ranger awoke with a start. For a minute, he wasn't sure where he was. The pounding pain in his head quickly reminded him. He hadn't slept for more than a few minutes at a time for the better part of two days.

Ranger was having a hard time thinking. He thought he remembered something Steph said when she was here earlier. Or was it yesterday? Ranger wasn't sure. Something about a drug?

Ranger coughed and it felt like nails in his head. He felt a little short of breath too, but maybe it was because he was trying not to move too much. What the hell was wrong with him? He felt like time was running out, but wasn't sure why. Maybe Steph will know what to do.

Wait – did she tell him something important earlier?


	15. Chapter 14

Henry's phone was ringing. What time was it? He looked at the clock – 2am? He stumbled into the kitchen to retrieve his mobile as it started ringing again.

"Hello?" Henry said.

"You stupid son of a – " Henry had to hold the phone away from his ear as his partner screamed obscenities at him.

"What's wrong?" Henry asked.

"He's dead!"

"Who's dead?"

"The test subject!" his partner said.

"Ranger?" Henry said. He was half asleep and confused.

"No, our buyer's test subject. He just called me and needless to say the deal's off. "

"I don't understand what happened," Henry said. "It's not even been 24 hours. He must have smoked after we left and overdosed himself."

"I can't believe I've wasted all this time. I did my part in this partnership. You were supposed to do yours and you failed. I should never have trusted you for all these years."

"Wait," Henry said. "If I can just talk to the buyer. I can fix this. Maybe the dosage was off, maybe he was allergic to something, there are so many possibilities."

"The buyer isn't looking for a chemistry lesson. He was looking to buy a product that would incapacitate and NOT KILL!"

"It's not over," Henry said. "We can find other buyers. I can fix this."

"It's over. And if I were you I'd be looking behind me when I walked." The line went dead.

Henry was in shock. He had no idea what just happened. Sure, some of the animal trials had problems, but he was certain he'd corrected the formula. Wasn't he?

The only thing left to do was clean house and get the hell out of dodge. He had some things to take care of first. No way was he going to throw away years of research. He'd fix things and find another partner.

There was no time to waste. Henry went downstairs to his lab and got to work.


	16. Chapter 15

I wanted to check on Ranger so I headed over to the hospital after speaking with Tank. I was anxious to see him and I very much hoped he was starting to feel better. Ranger being out of commission was bad for all of us.

I stopped short as I entered his room. Ranger's bed was raised, and he was wearing an oxygen mask. His eyes were closed, but he clearly wasn't sleeping because he was coughing after every few breaths.

I sat down and put my hand on his arm. Ranger didn't respond. I brushed his hair from his forehead and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Hi," I said, trying not to cry. Ranger started to say something, but was coughing too bad.

"Don't try to talk," I said. "Just rest."

Ranger shook his head and tried again. "Babe," he croaked.

"What is it?" I said.

"Remembered something," he managed to say before pausing to cough.

I waited for him to catch his breath. "What is it?" I said again.

"Emergency meeting," Ranger said softly.

"What does that mean?" I asked him. "A meeting with who?"

Ranger shook his head and closed his eyes.

The doctor walked in as I was trying to get Ranger to clarify what he meant.

"Can we speak in the hall?" the doctor asked.

"Ranger's had some setbacks," the doctor began. "His oxygen levels have dropped, which is why we've got him on oxygen, and his fever and headache haven't budged."

"Have you run more tests?" I asked.

"Yes, and so far nothing is conclusive. We were hopeful this was some kind of virus that would run its course, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"What else can be done for him?"

"We are running out of options, I'm afraid. If we don't know the cause of his sickness, we can't treat it. I'm most concerned with his breathing, but we are doing everything we can."

I nodded numbly. This couldn't be happening!

"Any luck on tracking down anything on you end?" the doctor asked.

"No, we are coming up empty. But I'm not giving up."

"Well we are doing everything we can to make him comfortable. If anything changes we'll let you know right away."

I thanked the doctor and walked back into Ranger's room.

"Ranger?" I said. He opened his eyes and looked confused. "Did you remember anything else?"

Ranger moaned and mumbled something in Spanish, and I knew I wasn't going to get anything else out of him.

I kissed his forehead and told him to hang in there and I'd be back.

I was leaving the hospital when Connie called my cell. "How's Ranger?" she asked.

I updated Connie and while I tried to remain positive, I was starting to lose a little hope.

"Look, I know you've got your hands full, but Vinnie is freaking out over here. Is there any chance you can do a little sleuthing for the Fudge so he'll get off our backs?"

"Yea," I said, "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," Connie said. "Hang in there. You know Ranger's the strongest man we know. If anyone can pull through, it's Ranger."

"I know," I said, blinking back tears. "I'll keep you posted."

I knew just the man I wanted to see. I was frustrated, angry, and overall in a foul mood. I was going to march right up to Henry's door and demand to know where he's been hiding the Fudge.


	17. Chapter 16

I called Tank on the way to Henry's house. I told him what Ranger said about an emergency meeting.

"I really have no idea if it means anything. He's hasn't exactly been lucid, but it seemed important to him."

"Maybe he was called into a last-minute meeting or something?" Tank said. "I'll check around and see if anyone remembers anything."

"Can you check his cell phone calls?" There was silence on the other end. "Tank?" I said.

"Uh," Tank said.

"What?" I asked.

"You know how Ranger is about his privacy," Tank said. "We can do it, but he won't like it."

"Pretty sure he likes to be alive more," I said. "Do it. Call me if you find anything."

I disconnected and pointed the car in the direction of Henry's address. I was an angry Italian looking to blow off some steam.

I pulled up to the house and marched right up and banged on the door. No answer. I rang the bell. No answer. I knocked again. No answer. I kept banging on the door and ringing the doorbell. Finally, Henry answered.

"Oh if it isn't the cleaning lady," Henry said dryly.

I barged right into his house. I wasn't in the mood for niceties.

"What the?" Henry said. "You can't just barge in here."

"Well I just did," I said. "I'm a bond enforcement agent and I have the right to search any property where I suspect an FTA is hiding."

"An FT what?" Henry said.

"Frank," I said. "Also known as the Fudge. Where is he?"

"Frank hates that nickname you know," Henry said.

"Not my problem," I said. "Where are you hiding him?"

"I'm not," Henry said. "I haven't seen him since he skipped his court date, I swear. Have you checked with his wife?"

"Yea and she told me to look here."

"She did?" he said. I had to give it to him; he genuinely looked confused.

For the first time, I started to look around the room. We were standing in the living room, and there were boxes piled everywhere.

"What's with all the boxes?" I asked. "Going somewhere?"

"Uh just doing a little spring cleaning," Henry said.

"It's November," I said. "Try again."

"Look," Henry said. "I'm very sorry, but I really have no idea where Fred is. His wife and I aren't on the best terms so she probably thought I'd be hiding him. She'd turn him in without thinking twice."

"Yea, that's what she told me." I said. "Seems like it's not the best relationship."

"He's been miserable for years," Henry said. "If he gets out of this I hope they both just move on with their lives."

"Well, skipping out on bail is really not the best way to get out of anything."

My phone rang, and I glanced at the reader. It was Tank.

"I have to take this," I said.

"Hey, what's up?" I said.

"We did some checking. Ranger had a couple of last minute client meetings that fit our timeframe. They weren't on his schedule, and after we checked around, one of our guys said he gave Ranger a ride because you needed his car."

"Where were the meetings?" I asked.

"One of them was a lunch meeting with his attorney," Tank said. "The other was at one of our clients and it's also one of the names on our list that our guys didn't visit."

"Which one?" I asked.

"Hank and Associates," Tank said.

"Hank?" I said aloud.

At that, Henry turned around, clearly thinking I had called his name. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

"Steph?" Tank said. "You there?"

"Let me call you back," I said, not taking my eyes off Henry. No. Freaking. Way.

"You go by Hank?" I said slowly.

"Yes, sometimes. I answer to both. Never understood how you get Hank from Henry, but whatever."

Henry was looking a little uncomfortable now.

I remembered I still had the gun I borrowed from Ranger in my purse. Before Henry could react, I drew my gun and pointed it at him.

"We," I said, "need to talk."


	18. Chapter 17

Henry stared at the gun, and then stared back up at me. "I told you I don't know where Fred is," he said. "I can try to call him if you want."

"I don't care about him," I said. "I want to talk about what you gave to Ranger."

"What I gave to Ranger?" Henry said.

I just stared at him, gun drawn. Either I was going to shoot him or he was going to tell me the truth. Maybe I would just shoot him regardless. Sheesh, I was starting to sound like Lula.

Henry sighed. "Look, it wasn't my idea," he said. "We needed a test subject for the product."

"What product?" I asked. "What did you give him?"

"It's my own personal formula," he said. "It's not lethal, it wears off in a day or two."

"Well Ranger is lying in a hospital bed right now and he's not getting better. It's not wearing off. He's actually getting worse!"

Henry was muttering to himself. "I just don't get how this is happening again. It should work exactly how I designed it."

"What do you mean you can't believe it's happening again?" I said.

"Oh. Nothing." I cocked the gun.

"Ok, Ok!" Henry said. "There was a little incident with another test subject. He, ah, met an untimely death."

"He died?!" My eyes blurred a little and I focused on deep breathing.

"Well, I think he overdosed himself. Totally isn't going to happen to Ranger. I dosed him myself."

"How?" I asked.

"Cubans," Henry said.

"Huh?" I said.

"Cigars. Ranger's company handles security for my business and I called him one afternoon to discuss an issue with our system. Offered him a cigar. He couldn't pass up an authentic Cuban."

So it was something he inhaled.

"How do we cure him?"

"Can't," Henry said. "Told you, it wears off."

"And I told you it's not wearing off! You've got to have a way to reverse it."

"Well…" Henry said. He slid his eyes towards a door off the kitchen.

"What's behind that door?" I asked.

"My basement lab." Henry said. "I've been trying to work out a reversal."

"So you can reverse it," I said. Thank God.

"Of course you can reverse it. I just didn't make an antidote because it's supposed to reverse itself."

"Well time to finish that antidote," I said. "Ranger needs it."

"This will be very dangerous. It's not been tested. I can't guarantee it won't kill him."

"Either way he's in trouble if we don't do something soon. And you'll be in jail for murder. Or I will when I shoot you. So take your pick on which is the least risk."

Henry retreated to his lab with me behind him, gun to his back.

He started tinkering with some liquids and measured out some other things. While he was working, I had enough sense to call Tank and tell him what was going on. I assured him that I had it handled. I didn't want to scare him by having a room full of RangeMan guys bust in on us. Tank said he'd put a car on the street incase anything went south.

"If you're thinking of tricking me and giving me some crap antidote, I just want to warn you that Ranger's guys are all over the street. They'll know exactly where you are incase there are any problems, I said."

"I'm not," Henry said. "I need this to work as much as you do."

"Why?" I asked.

"Can't talk about it," Henry said.

I pointed the gun at him.

"I'm serious. You can shoot me if you want, but I still can't tell you. Plus you need me to fix this."

I decided to drop it for now. There would be time to find out the plans for this mysterious drug. I'm sure it involved selling it somehow.

After what seemed like hours later, Henry told me he thought he was close. He wanted to do a little more testing.

My phone rang and I checked the readout; it was the hospital. I answered it immediately.

"Hi, this is Dr Blake calling. Ranger's having some complications, and we think it's best for you to come in right away. "

"What's happening?" I asked.

"You should just come as soon as you can," the doctor said. I told him I'd be there soon.

"You're out of time," I said to Henry.

Henry was drawing some liquid into a syringe. "Here," he said, handing me the needle. "Make sure they give him all of it."

I wasted no time sprinting up the stairs and jumping into my car. I called Tank to be sure Ranger's men stayed with Henry. I didn't want him going anywhere.

I floored the gas pedal and made it to the hospital in 15 minutes. I parked the car and ran towards Ranger's room. I entered the room, and it was very chaotic.

Ranger was hooked up to machines monitoring his heart and lungs, and I could tell something was wrong. His breathing was shallow and rapid.

I found the doctor and showed him the syringe. "I have the cure!" I said excitedly.

"What is this?" the doctor said.

"I told you, it's the cure to whatever he was given that made him so sick."

"We can't just inject a patient with a mystery liquid," the doctor said. "It has to be tested and we need to know what he was given in the first place."

"I don't know, it was something he inhaled," I said. I couldn't believe this. We had come all this way and they weren't going to listen to me?

All of a sudden, machines started beeping and Ranger started gasping for air. I ran to his bedside while the doctor barked orders to the staff.

"Can't breathe," Ranger gasped.

"Hang on," the doctor said, as he dropped the syringe onto the table.

I had one chance to do this. If I followed protocol, Ranger would be dead, of that I was certain.

I grabbed the syringe. I uncapped the tip. I was being pushed aside by a nurse, but I managed to push my way next to Ranger. I closed my eyes, and jabbed the needle right into his thigh.

Ranger let out a huge exhalation of air, and then my world went black.


	19. Chapter 18

I opened my eyes and a nurse was leaning over me. "What the?" I said.

"Take it easy," the nurse said. "You fainted."

I was lying on the floor of Ranger's hospital room. She slowly helped me into a sitting position.

"You feel ok?" she asked. I nodded.

"Ranger!" I exclaimed. I pushed myself off the floor and went to his bedside.

"He's unconscious, but we think he's going to be ok," the nurse said.

"So I guess the shot worked then?" I said.

"You were very brave to do that against the doctor's orders. Whatever it was, it saved his life. You got here just in time. We still don't know the cause, but all we know is that his body was storing way too much carbon dioxide and he wasn't able to get any oxygen."

"Can I sit with him awhile?" I asked.

"Of course," the nurse said. "Let me know if you need anything."

I sat by Ranger's bedside, watching his slow, rhythmic breathing. I didn't trust that Henry's cure wouldn't have some kind of side affect, but Ranger looked quite peaceful.

My ass was nearly asleep and I was just about ready to go home for the night when Ranger moaned softly. "Ranger?" I said.

He moaned again and slowly his eyes fluttered open and he looked at me. "Babe?" he said.

"Hi," I said, taking his hand. "How do you feel?"

"Tired," he said softly.

"How does your head feel?" I asked him.

Ranger took a beat to answer and then said, "better."

I put my hand to his forehead. "Fever's gone too."

"Do you remember what happened?" I asked him.

Ranger knit his brows together as he said, "Did you stab me? I have this picture in my head of you charging at me with something in you hand."

"I didn't stab you," I said, while trying not to roll my eyes. "You were sick and I had an injection that contained a cure, but the doctors didn't want to give it to you. So I did." I left out the fainting part. Way less cool to include that.

He stared at me, unblinking. "So you saved my life," he said slowly.

"I guess I did." I suddenly felt exhausted. The past few days had caught up with me and all I wanted to do was sleep.

Ranger pushed back the covers and pulled me to him. "You look as tired as I feel. Come here, my hero."

I crawled into Ranger's arms and didn't realize I was crying until I felt tears running down my cheeks.

"Shhh, it's ok," Ranger said quietly, as he stroked my back. "We're ok. Just sleep."

We both fell asleep at once, locked in each other's arms, right where we belonged.

Ranger was doing well the next morning so he was released from the hospital under strict instructions to rest for several days. His body had been through a major trauma, and it would take a while for him to regain full strength.

True to Ranger form, he was having trouble following instructions even before we left the hospital. Of course his first question to me once we were in the car was who did this to him. The second, which I couldn't answer was why.

"When I get my hands on that guy I'm gonna stomp him," Ranger said. "He didn't give you any indications as to why he did this to me?"

"No," I said. "He said something about a test subject, but that's all."

Ranger's mouth was tight. I'd seen that look before. It was the look that said don't cross me unless you want to hurt.

"You aren't thinking of going after him now are you?" I asked.

Ranger cut his eyes to me but said nothing.

"I had Tank keep a car on him so that we know where to find him," I said.

"Good thinking," Ranger said. "Let's go back to RangeMan, I need to meet with Tank anyway."

"You're supposed to be resting," I said. "Later", Ranger said with a wave of his hand.

I rolled my eyes. Why do I even try?

We rolled into RangeMan and Ranger went to talk with Tank while I went upstairs to take a shower. "You'll stay here, right?" I asked Ranger?

"For now," Ranger said, as he stepped off the elevator and pushed the button for number seven.

I took a fast shower and changed my clothes. I stepped out of the bathroom and didn't see or hear Ranger so I made my way down to the Control Room.

I didn't see Ranger or Tank, but I spotted Hal.

"Hal!" I said. "Where's Ranger and Tank?"

"Uh," Hal said.

"Hal," I said. "Where are they?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you."

For cripes' sake Ranger. Can't even stay put for an hour!

"Hal," I said again, "I've stun gunned you before and I'll do it again if I have to. Tell me where they went."

Hal looked like he wanted to puke. Having to choose between me hurting him or Ranger hurting him must be tough.

"I won't tell him you told me," I said. "Promise." I made the X over the heart motion with my finger.

"They went to look for Hank," Hal said. "The car that we had trailing him lost contact, and he'd cleared out his house like he was going somewhere so they wanted to try and catch him before he disappeared."

"Where do they think he went?"

"His office. They figured he was picking up whatever he gave to Ranger before heading out."

"What's the address?" I asked.

Hal gave me the puke look again.

"The address?" I said again.

Hal sighed and gave me the address. I thanked Hal and told him my lips were sealed.

I was brooding as I drove to Henry's office. I couldn't believe Ranger thought he was going to sneak off and leave me waiting in the dust. When was he going to learn that I am just as much his partner as Tank is?

I pulled into the lot of a small office complex and looked around. Ranger and Tank's car were parked around the corner. Henry's car was parked in the lot.

Time to bust in on their party, I thought.


	20. Chapter 19

The back door to Henry's office was unlocked so I let myself in, quietly closing the door behind me. I crept down a darkened hallway as I listened for voices. I saw a light on in one of the rooms so I poked my head in the doorway.

Ranger was leaning against a desk with his arms crossed. He was staring at Henry with no emotion on his face. They didn't see me so I just watched in silence.

Henry, apparently had been rushing around gathering papers and didn't see Ranger waiting for him until it was too late.

"Hank," Ranger said quietly. Uh oh – the scary Ranger quiet voice.

"Ranger!" Hank said, as papers flew from his arms. "Whaat are you doing here?"

Ranger said nothing and just looked at him.

"Look," Hank said. "This wasn't my idea, it was my partner's. I didn't want to do it, I have nothing against you."

Still Ranger said nothing, but his gaze never wavered.

"I fixed it though, looks like you're feeling better," Hank said. Actually, I thought Ranger looked a little pale, and I suspected his leaning against the desk was for more than just show.

"There are lots of pieces to the puzzle that need to be filled in," Ranger finally said. "And you are going to tell me everything."

"Uh…" Hank stammered.

"Either you are going to tell me on your own or Tank and I are going to make you tell me. Your choice."

Hank let out a sigh and sank into a chair. He ran his hands through his hair and rubbed his face.

"What is the drug?" Ranger asked.

"It's something I've been working on for years. It's my own formula."

"What does it do?"

"It makes one feel like they have a really bad flu and incapacitates them for a short duration."

"I'm aware," Ranger said. "How does it work?"

"Well we all breathe in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide. The drug bonds to the carbon dioxide in the body and prevents some of it from being exhaled. The compound in the drug actually needs oxygen to work so the more oxygen you inhale, the stronger the drug gets."

"Pretty nasty side effects too," Hank continued. "Headaches, fever, and cough. The cough is as a result of the excess carbon dioxide though."

"How does it wear off?" Ranger asked.

"It's supposed to metabolize in a few days, at least that's what all the test results showed. I still don't know why it didn't work. Maybe it's because I used injections with all of my tests instead of an inhalant. Maybe inhaling it is too fast for the body to handle."

I thought I saw a muscle tense in Ranger's jaw. He must be using a lot of self-control to stay calm right now. I'd have the guy in a headlock by now.

"Why me?" Ranger asked. "Not happy with our security agreement?"

"No, not at all!" Hank said. "We needed a test subject and when that bounty hunter showed up and said she knew you, well, we figured it would give us a chance to test the product because we figured it wouldn't take long for you to catch on to what we were doing."

"You sold the product?" Ranger asked.

"We tried, but the test results were not satisfactory to the buyer."

"And what was this buyer planning to do with it?"

"Hell if I know. There are endless options. Gets people out of the way and makes them not want to leave their bed. Anyway, the buyer is out. I have to tweak my formula and try again." Hank said that last part more to himself, lost in his thoughts I think.

"Well that's never going to happen," Ranger said. "It ends here."

I was having a hard time hearing everything that was being said so I leaned closer, placing my hand on a pile of boxes. I accidentally knocked the boxes to the floor and everyone turned to look at me.

"Steph?" Tank and Ranger said at the same time. I gave them a little finger wave.

"What are you doing here?" Ranger asked. He had an edge to his voice so I knew he was short on patience.

Tank looked uncomfortable and said he was going to wait outside. Hank was obviously no threat.

"Why did you leave when you told me you would stay at RangeMan?" I said. "I have questions for Hank too, you know."

"Like what?" Ranger said, the edge to his voice replaced a little with amusement.

"Like who is this partner and what is his involvement in this?" I turned to Hank and said, "Fred is your partner, right?"

"No, I told you, I haven't seen Fred. He actually hasn't been answering my calls for a while, but I haven't had any time to worry about it. I figured he was just laying low until things blew over with his skipping out on bail."

"If Fred isn't your partner, who is?" I asked.

"Funny you should ask," said a voice from the doorway. We all turned to see a gun pointed at us and guess who was holding the gun?

"Mrs Postuli?" I said.

"I told you to call me Lisa."

"You're the partner?"

"You were expecting someone else? Someone like my husband?"

"Well yes."

"Hold on," Ranger said, his eyes not leaving the gun. "Someone want to fill me in on this?"

"In due time," Lisa said. "Right now, I have some unfinished business here with my ex-partner."

Lisa forced Ranger and I into the corner of the room after she made Hank confiscate our weapons.

"Where the hell is Tank?" I quietly said to Ranger.

Before I could ask any more questions, my world went black.

Again.


	21. Chapter 20

Earthquake. I was in an earthquake. Wait, not an earthquake. Someone was shaking me.

"Babe!" Ranger said.

"What the?" I said. Ranger was leaning over me. This was a little too déjà vu.

"Are you ok?" Ranger asked.

"Think so." I felt all tingly so that could only mean one thing.

"Stun gun?" I asked.

"Yea. She tagged me too," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Fine."

"What's going on?" I said, sitting up.

"After we were stunned, I overheard something about a buyer," Ranger said, as he helped me to my feet.

"I guess that's what she meant by unfinished business."

"Who's the partner?" Ranger asked. "And why does she look so familiar?"

"She's the Fudge's wife. And she looks familiar because she was one of your nurses."

"Ah now I remember. She was saying some weird stuff to me. I thought it was just the fever. And I think she took pictures of me?"

"What's this world coming to when nurses are the bad guys?"

"There's evil everywhere, Babe." Ranger paused and said "You know we can't let that stuff get out on the streets."

"What are we going to do about it?"

Ranger's cell rang and he looked at the readout. "Tank" he said as he answered.

I took the opportunity to visit the facilities. I was still feeling a little woozy from the stun gun. Ranger was waiting for me in the hall when I was done.

"Time to go," Ranger said, as he took my hand and pulled me towards the exit.

"What did Tank say? And why isn't he here?"

"Tank was waiting out back when Lisa came in through the front door. He heard the commotion and managed to get the plate of the car she was driving. The car's been tracked across town."

We hopped in the car and Ranger hit the gas. I looked over at him. "You doing ok?" I asked.

Ranger glanced over at me, but didn't answer. "This is ending today, Babe. I won't let that stuff get into the wrong hands."

We pulled into an alley about a block from where the car was spotted. Ranger grabbed his gun from under the seat and handed me a gun from his glove box.

"I don't want you to go, but I know better than to try and make you stay," Ranger said.

"You bet your ass," I said. "Let's go."

We made our way down the street and spotted the car. We were in an area of abandoned factories and buildings. A metal door to one of the buildings was propped open and we could hear voices inside.

Ranger checked his phone. "Tank and the team are 2 minutes out," he said quietly. "Let's go see what's going on."

We entered the building, and as I walked through the door, I tripped on whatever was holding the door open and it shut with a soft thud. Oops.

Ranger looked at me wide-eyed, and his mouth hung open a little.

"Sorry!" I mouthed.

"Babe, these old buildings have doors that lock from the inside. You just locked us in here." He muttered something that sounded a lot like "why me" and rubbed his forehead.

"What do we do now?" I whispered.

"We'll have to find another way out of here," Ranger said. "But not before we stop this deal."

We followed the voices until we saw Lisa standing over a table while showing something to man. Two other men were standing in a corner. Henry was nowhere to be found.

It was obvious that this buyer was asking a bunch of questions that Lisa couldn't answer. "Where's your partner?" the man said. "Why isn't he here to answer these questions?"

"He wasn't able to make it," Lisa said, "but we assure you the product is solid." She pulled out her phone. "This is a video I shot of our test subject. You can see he is quite ill."

The man looked at the video. "And where is he now? How do I know he isn't dead? You tried to sell this to my partner and apparently his test subject died."

"I can assure you that – "

"No offense lady," the man said, "but your assurance doesn't mean anything. I only decided to give you a call because of your persistence. So I wanted to see for myself if it was worth it."

Ranger looked over at me. Don't do it, I thought.

"Stay here," he whispered. He's doing it, I thought.

"I'm here," Ranger said, as he made his way over to the meeting, gun drawn.

"What is this?" the man asked.

"It's our test subject," Lisa said.

"Doesn't matter," Ranger said, "no deal is happening today."

"Guns on the ground," he said to the two men in the corner. They threw their guns down and Ranger kicked them away.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lisa said. "I'm SO sick of you men getting in the way!"

Ranger ignored her and turned toward the buyer. "There's no deal," he said again.

I was concentrating on the conversation and didn't even hear someone sneak up behind me and grab me. Before I could blink, a gun was placed against my temple and I was led into the center of the room.

Ranger turned toward me, and I could see both fear and rage in his eyes.

"Drop the gun," the guy said.

Ranger dropped his gun and said, "Don't hurt her."

Lisa marched up to Ranger and punched him right in the stomach. He let out a whoosh of air and dropped to a knee.

"Stop!" I said. I was released and I ran over to Ranger as he stood. We both turned to look at the guy with the gun and couldn't believe it.

"The Fudge?" we both said in unison.


	22. Chapter 21

"You were expecting someone else?" Fudge said. "Like maybe Hank? Hon, what happened to Hank anyway?" he asked, as he turned towards his wife.

"He decided to take a last minute vacation. Might be a permanent vacation."

"You didn't," Fudge said.

Lisa just shrugged.

"I thought you hated your husband," I said.

"Only because the dope got caught stealing. Like we have enough problems, we really didn't need that too."

"This has been great and all," the buyer said, "but back to the deal. I need to know that the product works as intended."

Lisa turned toward me and smiled. "Well, why don't we do a live test?" She grabbed a cigar from the box and walked over to Ranger.

"What do you say? Want to take another puff?"

"Not going to happen," Ranger said.

"Well we're in luck, we have another option." She turned to me. "If Ranger won't do it, I guess you'll have to take one for the team." This lady was a psychopath.

"Thanks," I said, "but I don't smoke."

"Oh, I think you'll change your mind," Lisa said, as Fudge put the gun back to my temple.

Ranger yelled at Fudge to stop as Lisa grabbed a lighter and held the cigar up next to me.

"I'll do it," Ranger said.

"No!" I yelled. I wrangled out of Fudge's grip and ran to Ranger. "I'm not going to let you do this."

He wrapped his arms around me and said into my ear, "Do you trust me?"

"Always," I whispered back.

Ranger kissed me and slid his hand under the back of my shirt. The gun! I had forgotten all about it. Ranger continued to kiss and grope me while he transferred the gun under his shirt.

"Ok love birds," Lisa said. "He'll be fine." She handed Ranger the cigar. "Do it."

Ranger took the cigar, lit it, looked at me, and took a puff. We all waited. He took another puff.

"Well?" the buyer said. "How long does it take?"

"No long," Lisa said.

Ranger started looking ill not long after he took the first puff. He grabbed at his head and moaned.

"See?" Lisa said. "Not dead. Just sick. Exactly what we promised. Now are we ready to deal? The price is still $2 mil for the product and the formula."

I kept my eyes on Ranger. Something was different this time. It's almost as if he were faking. Was he faking?

"Ugh, I need to sit down," Ranger said. He halfway fell to the ground and coughed.

"What's he doing?" the buyer said.

"They end up feeling really sick, but it wears off in a day or two. You want them to feel like they can't get out of bed, don't you?"

"Yea, but he doesn't look right."

Ranger had his head bowed, but he was starting at me. I gave him the smallest of nods. I knew what he wanted me to do.

Ranger started coughing and gasping and everyone surrounded him to see what was happening.

I hit the floor just as Ranger pulled the gun from his shirt and started firing. He hit Fudge first in the leg and the gun in his hand went flying. I crawled to Fudge's gun and pointed it at the buyer's men.

Ranger tagged Lisa next. She went down hard. He hit the buyer in the shoulder as he stood and ran over to me.

"Are you ok?" I asked him.

"I'm ok," Ranger said.

We heard a large bang and Ranger's men filed in with Tank leading the charge. "Ranger, what the hell?" Tank said.

"Took us a minute to figure out that you were in one of these buildings. What – did Steph lock you in or something?"

Neither of us said a word. We just looked at each other.

"Take care of this for me," Ranger said to Tank. "I'm getting Steph out of here. And get her a receipt for the Fudge."

We exited the building, and Ranger leaned against me.

"I don't understand," I said. "Were you faking the whole time?"

"Mostly."

"But why aren't you really sick?"

"While I was waiting on you back at Hank's office, I read through some papers on his desk. Turns out, he made a vaccine to his drug, not just an antidote. So I figured I'd be safe since you dosed me with the vaccine."

"Un-freaking-believable," I said.

"Let's go home," he said. "Do you mind driving? I'm spent."

Ranger was asleep the second I started the car. I felt his forehead just to be sure he didn't have a fever.

I pulled into the RangeMan garage and lightly touched Ranger's arm. "Hey," I said. "We're home."

"I'm going to sleep for a week," Ranger mumbled.

"Good!" I said. "Finally listening to Dr. Stephanie's orders."


	23. Chapter 22

Both Lisa and the Fudge were arrested for their crimes and both were in the hospital recovering from their gunshot wounds.

The buyers managed to lawyer their way out of trouble, claiming they didn't know what they were buying.

Henry hasn't been seen since the day we were in his office. We both suspect that Lisa killed him. I think Henry just got in with the wrong crowd and wanted to do something big. He seemed more obsessed with his work than with selling it anyway.

Tank made sure the product and the formula were destroyed so that no one else had to go through what Ranger went through.

Oh and I got my body receipt. A new purse for Stephanie – woo hoo!

Ranger was pretty run-down and weak for the about a week after he was released from the hospital. He kept pushing himself and I kept telling him to take it easy, but it's hard for Ranger to be any less, well, Ranger.

He was finally feeling more like himself when one afternoon he said he had a surprise for me later that evening. "What is it?" I asked.

"It's a surprise," Ranger said. "Wear something nice. Be ready at 8."

Ranger showed up dressed to the nines in black. He looked smoking hot in his black pants and black button down shirt. I went with a red dress and heels. I wore my hair up with a few curly tendrils hanging down.

"Very nice," Ranger said, as he kissed me behind my ear. "Ready to go?"

"You still aren't going to tell me where we're going?" I said.

"Why am I not surprised that you can't stand to be surprised?" Ranger said, amusement in his voice.

"I love surprises," I said. "I just like to know what they are." The corners of Ranger's lips curved into a half smile.

We pulled up to an area of town that quite frankly looked a lot like the abandoned building where we took down Lisa and the Fudge.

"What – are we re-living the scene of the crime?" I asked.

Ranger rolled his eyes as he opened my door and grabbed my hand. "Come on."

As we got closer to the entrance I could hear music. Ranger gave the guy at the door one of those weird handshakes, and we made our way inside.

The club was packed and the music was bumping. Everywhere people were dancing, and a Latin band was on the stage.

"You're taking me dancing?" I asked, incredulously.

"Surprised?" Ranger said smiling wide.

"I love dancing!" I said.

"I know."

"I didn't know you could dance," I said, still taking in the electric atmosphere.

"Babe, I'm Latino. I came out of the womb dancing."

The band started playing a song and Ranger pulled me to the dance floor. I couldn't understand a word of the music, but I felt every bit of the passion as Ranger twirled me around the room.

The man had moves. I've never been more attracted to him as I was watching him let loose and have fun. I shouldn't be surprised at this because Ranger was good at everything. But this was different, somehow.

"What?" Ranger asked as we took a break.

"I'm just so happy," I said.

"Good," Ranger said.

"No really," I said, as I squeezed his hand. "And I'm really happy you didn't die on me. I don't think I could stand it if anything ever happened to you."

"I've never felt so horrible in my whole life," Ranger said. "But you were the one who kept me going. I'd just think about you, and I knew I could get through it."

The band started playing a slow song and Ranger pulled me back to the dance floor. He pulled me to him and we swayed to the music.

"It's so beautiful," I said. "What's the song about?"

"Love," Ranger said. And he kissed me.

At that moment, I felt like we were the only two people in the room. I have no idea what the future has in store for us. I knew Ranger could only give so much of himself to anyone, me included.

I loved him and he loved me, and for just this one moment, on the dance floor of a packed nightclub, it was enough. It was totally enough.


End file.
